single review: tricky. murder weapon. 30 aug 2010. domino records

next month tricky releases his first studio album in two years. two years? is that right? it amazes me because i can’t remember anything from him for ages. there were a few singles that flitted about at the turn of the century i think, and i’ve been aware that he’s still been recording stuff, but it still seems like years and years since his last serious assault on my eardrums. i remember ‘the hell ep’ taking over my life in the summer of ’95. it would still have a prime position on my cd rack many years later.

he’s back anyway (although it seems he’s never been away) with a new album and this is the first single from it. he has reworked a dance-hall track form the era i remember and adore tricky from. for me this still works. it’s a mixed up and confused track moving from one sound to another throughout, but in a way that make you want to listen again and again. from a quick flick through reviews of his more recent records i get the feeling that he hasn’t lived up to his early nineties promise, but to me ‘murder weapon’ can hold its head up high. it is dark. it is moody. that’s how i like my tricky. bring on the album.